1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to network management. In particular, this disclosure relates to cellular network management using indications of network quality from a plurality of entities.
2. Relevant Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. Each terminal communicates with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. This communication link may be established via a single-in-single-out, multiple-in-signal-out or a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) system.
Interference is one of the key factors in degrading the quality of service provided by a wireless cellular network. While the negative impact of interference experienced by a certain subscriber remains confined to that subscriber, severe interference at a base station, whether it is a macro cell, pico cell, femto cell, or relay, can negatively affect many, if not all, of the subscribers served by that base station. As a consequence, it is desirable to keep the interference level at base stations low. New base stations (macro, pico, femto and relay) are deployed constantly to address the ever-increasing demands of the market, and interference conditions can change over time, e.g., as a result of change in the surrounding environment (e.g., new buildings, bridges, etc.) even for a fixed infrastructure.
Consequently, it is desirable for network operators to conduct interference surveys at base stations. Realizing the cost of such surveys, it would be advantageous to provide an efficient and inexpensive method for monitoring interference at the base station.
Another key factor in degrading the quality of service provided by a wireless cellular network is lack of coverage or low signal quality in particular areas. It is desirable, in managing a network, such as a wireless cellular network, to provide the subscribers with the best possible coverage. A number of factors (e.g., shading and inter-cell interference) can negatively affect the quality of service provided to the subscribers.
Consequently, it is desirable for network operators to conduct coverage surveys (or network quality surveys) to identify spots with poor reception and then to adjust the infrastructure (e.g., through modifying existing base stations' parameters such as transmission power or number of antennas, or through deploying additional macro, relay or femto base stations) to address the problem. However, adjusting the infrastructure, while improving the coverage at specific locations, may degrade the reception at other locations. This, of course, makes further coverage surveys desirable. Coverage surveys may also be desirable to in view of the fact that even the coverage provided by a fixed infrastructure may change over time. This may for example be due to the changes in the surrounding environment (e.g., new buildings or bridges). Realizing the cost of such surveys, it would be advantageous to provide an efficient and inexpensive method for monitoring network quality provided to the subscribers of a network.